Pages

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Iditarod fundraiser

OK, so, the book. This started in June when an Alaskan author named Seth Kantner (one of my heroes, but that's the subject of another post) came to Juneau to promote his latest book, "Shopping for Porcupine." That also happened to be the same day my parents flew into town to visit me. I dragged them almost directly from the airport to the bookstore to attend Kantner's signing and slideshow. As he flipped through photos of his hard life in the frozen wastelands of the Arctic, I kept glancing over at my mom and dad, expecting to see perplexed looks on their faces. But, like me, they seemed enthralled. I decided two things that evening: I needed to go back to the Iditarod Trail - if not in 2009, then someday. And I needed to get my 2008 experience on paper - not just the quick first impressions of the blog, but everything I could remember.

Before that night, I had already been working on essays of other past adventures, some of which I consider turning points in my life. When I started working on the Iditarod story, I noticed a lot of similar themes that cropped up in some of my old stories. The complimentary details seemed worth drawing together. I moved toward fusing the two projects - like parallel journeys at different points in time. The result is this book: My personal story of the Iditarod Trail and the far-reaching trails that led to it.

I finished it in September and didn't really feel compelled to add much to it. But I wasn't sure what to do with it. There was a sense that maybe it was worthy of publication, but I know myself well and I knew I was just going to bury it in a computer folder and forget about it as I avoided all of the work of trying to get a piece of creative nonfiction published. Years would go by and eventually the computer's hard drive would fizzle out and that would be that.

As I mulled just posting it on a blog (not this one, because this blog is already really long without the addition a 75,000-word post), I came across the idea of self publishing. I have lots of mixed feelings about self publishing, as I'm sure lots of authors do. But I put it together as a book and needled a little covert copy editing out of a friend and was fairly happy with the result.

All was uploaded and done about two weeks ago, but I've been hesitating because I wasn't sure this was what I really wanted to do. But now I don't just want to think about it anymore. This is how all of my best decisions are made. :-)

If you click on this link, you can purchase the book and help support my next big winter racing effort. By buying my book, you get a stack of new and interesting "Up in Alaska" material that you can read in bed, and I get a small royalty that I can put into my new-coat-and-peanut- butter-cup fund. The link will take you directly to the publisher's marketplace site. I understand shipping may be a little high, especially if you don't live in the United States. If that's the case, I am trying to get this listed on Amazon.com, but it will take several weeks at least. You can also download the PDF.

Finally, some of my friends and people I've met are depicted in this book (first-names only in most cases.) I worked really hard to depict the events as accurately as I could, but in the end, I'm relying almost entirely on my own memory. So I apologize in advance if you feel misrepresented in any way.

Also, if you come to this blog solely for the pictures, I am also thinking about putting together a fundraising calendar. And if you come to this site solely to compare your bicycle punishment to mine, don't worry, I'm still training hard and will be back to typing about that soon enough. :-)

Cheers for making it downloadable as an ebook... not only is it going to save some trees, but it will also make the book accessible for your supporters on the other side of the world... Can you make the calendar downloadable as well? Please? Pretty please? ;-)

I knew this would happen one day. You are a phenomenal writer and an amazing inspiration! I can't wait to order it and indulge in my crazy yet amazing sister's stories!! I also can't wait to see it rise to the top of the New York Bestsellers, Oprah's Bookclub, and the rights to your own movie!

A calendar sounds like a good idea, but it limits the number of pictures..I would go for the calendar...but the coffee table book sounds awsome... I would have trouble picking ONLY 12 pics for a calendar.

Glad you took my advice... Well, along with hundreds of the same. Curious about the self publishing thing. Just didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of queries and rejections? Self publishing can be a viable path. A number of big sellers and great authors were picked up from the self publishing circuit, as I am sure you know. Best of luck. Count me in for an order. Hope you sell a million and sign with Harcourt.

So, you've got 40 comments now. Most of the commenters have blogs. I smell a marketing opportunity. I have posted a picture of your book on my blog, tuesdaygrimpeur.blogspot.com, and a plug. Hope you don't mind. I also hope everyone else will do the same. I, for one, would like to see you quit your day job and become an adventure writer. Somebody's gotta live the dream.

i buyed yer pdf book and stayed up late readin it. it was good. but i expected more gossip, frankly.

the main thing that caught me while readin it was the moments of revelation and the descriptions of incredible visual dreamscapes that one encounters when pushin on through to the other side. that's why i exercise - for the endorphins + visual beauty.

i know you work but it seems that it would be good to get up there a week early and preview the course.

also, have you ever considered wearing a cape? my wife won't let me wear a cape around town so i only wear it when i'm in the privacy of my own home. oh well. if you make me a cape i'll wear it.

how about doing la ruta de los conquistadores? its a going on now in costa rica. i now have a rough plan to do it next year, god willing.

i agree that a calander would be nice but i think the coffee table book idea would be much more fitting. a hundred pages of photos with interspersed comments, essays, and/or stories would much more capture what you have to offer than a 12 month calander possibly could. your photos are great, but most of them don't speak for themselves the way that your writing does. (is it possible for writing to "speak" for itself?)

Jill I am getting a little antsy because I have now been two days without a vicarious bike ride on your site. If this continues I may end up actually going to ride my own bike :) Oh yea and I look forward to reading the book. Congrats.

Thanks Craig and donut guy for posting links on your blog. Any help in making this viral is a'Ok with me.

Asa, that pretty much counts as my first book review. Thanks for reading. Not really sure what to take out of it. It's a book about my life. Were you looking for gossip about Lindsey Lohan? Wish I could provide it. Then I really would make decent money as a writer.

Hi Jill,I'm an academic physician (formerly at Harvard and Stanford) who found your blog while looking for the best health writers. I think your writing is great! I would like to feature you in the Biking Community on Wellsphere, a top 10 health website that has well over 2 million visitors monthly.

If you would like to learn more, just drop me an email to Dr.Rutledge@wellsphere.com

Contributors

Half Past Done

Latest news

Best of "Jill Outside"

Read the best essays and adventure reports from the first six years of this blog in one convenient eBook, available in all electronic formats. Your purchase helps support future "Jill Outside" adventures.